The Director's Facade
by ewzrbvip
Summary: Oneshot I wrote during SOSE. Not Beta'd. This is what happens when Gibbs arrives at Jenny's doorstep at midnight to discuss her 'issues'.


A/N: Another random oneshot I wrote while I was in SOSE today. Which now leaves me with a tonne of homework to finish by tomorrow. I was watching season four and five and I realized that Gibbs calls her Director more often.

Disclaimer: I own NCIS! I was joking, Jenny's not back and Gibbs and her haven't hooked up so obviously I don't own it.

* * *

She was still half asleep when she heard a faint knock. Her eyes were groggy and she could barely make out the time, midnight. Great, she had dozed off when she was meant to finish her files. She also needed to prepare for that meeting with SECNAV. She was going through her to-do list and mentally making notes of which ones she should finish first. Then there was another knock on the door. She sighed, rubbed her eyes and got up. She made her way slowly to the door and didn't even bother to check who it was before opening the door.

He took in her appearance; she was wearing sweat pants and a tank top revealing her cleavage. It had been a while since he had seen her out of her typical work attire. She was stunning. As if she finally realized who was standing before her she rushed upstairs and he heard a door slam.

"Jen?" He called up to her, surprised by her reaction.

""I'll be down in a minute." And then he could hear the faint sound of water running.

He sighed and made his way into her study. He really hoped she wasn't going to change out of her clothes, or have a shower. He just wanted to talk to her about what Ducky had discussed with him. Sure twelve in the middle of the night was generally unacceptable to knock on someone's door, but he had a valid reason. And he had thought this through before driving to her house.

She couldn't believe that he had seen her like this. Her make-up had all faded and it was as if she wasn't wearing any make-up at all. Sure she would admit to herself that she still looked somewhat attractive for her age and was still in good shape. But for some strange reason, she never wanted him to see her without make-up. Of course he had though, all those years back, when they were still _partners._ But it was different now, every time he saw her it was as though he didn't see her. It was as if he saw a stranger and it secretly killed her on the inside. She still lo… That didn't matter. She focused on applying her finishing touches of mascara.

When she had finished she made her way down the stairs and into the study, knowing that that was where he would be waiting. She approached the door of the study and saw that his back was to her, pouring two glasses of bourbon. She stood there for a while, just staring at him. She couldn't believe that after everything she's told herself, after all those times of telling herself that she was just another replacement for Shannon. She still had feelings for him. But she couldn't show the, she would protect herself form being hurt.

"You gonna say anything, _Direc-tor?_" She hated that. He never called her Jen or Jenny anymore it was always Director.

"You're the one knocking on my door at midnight." I replied coldly.

He seemed to catch on that I was already getting pissed and we had hardly started a conversation.

"I came to talk to you, Ducky seems to think that something is wrong with the Director of NCIS." There it was again. Every time he said that, it felt like someone had just stabbed her.

"I'm fine."

"No you're not. Normal people don't work at midnight, drink bourbon until their eyesight's blurry or rush upstairs to put on makeup when some else arrives."

That wasn't true she had only been drunk at work only a couple of times and no one actually knew because when she was drunk she was more determined…. and reckless. But only some people would figure it out Jethro and perhaps Ducky. He also didn't understand that if it were another person who had visited her tonight she wouldn't have reacted the way she did. She would have simply greeted them. But it was Jethro, it was as if every time she stood in front of him without any makeup was like revealing all her emotions to him. She couldn't do that. The make-up she applied was like a shield to her inner world, a mask.

"I'm fine," she repeated herself, but this time it seemed forced. She knew that she wasn't fine, but she didn't want him to know that. She wanted him to know that she was a strong independent woman who didn't need help.

He moved closer, quickly closing the space between them. She could smell his scent, the usual mix of sawdust, bourbon and coffee. He had that worried and pained look on his face. She ha only saw it once, that was when she was shot and had almost died. She could have killed herself for knowing that she was the one causing the pain.

"You're lying." He simply stated.

There was no way he knew, she had forced her right eye to not twitch after he had told her it did that night, right here.

"My eye's not twitching." She rebutted.

"You fixed that, but you can't do anything 'bout my gut." Damn his gut!

"Just because you think you have an infallible gut, doesn't mean it's true." He glared at her, studying her and her every move. She hated it. "It's late, I'll show you to the door."

As she turned to go, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into his embrace. Their lips collided and for a moment she felt safe, but it wasn't to long before she realized how this would never work. SECNAV would flip if he realized that she was in a relationship with one of her subordinates. She was still deep in thought when she realized that they were still kissing and his hand was almost under the hem of her tank top. She immediately pulled away and before she could think, her hand had collided with his face.

He stood there; his face was blank and unreadable. She felt terrible, she should have just let him kiss her and then think about things later. Even though his face was unreadable, she knew that he felt like crap on the inside and she couldn't help but apologize.

"Jethro, I'm sorry," she stared at him. His expression was still blank.

Before she could ay anything he turned to leave. He made his way out the study and almost out the front door when she realized this wasn't what she wanted. She wanted someone to love her and appreciate her. She wanted someone that made her feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. She wanted Jethro. She raced up behind him and threw her arms around him.

He turned to face her and cupped her face in his strong hands and uttered the words 'I love you' to her. She burst into tears. She told him that she was sorry for leaving him, sorry that she had slapped him, sorry for everything she did to him and that she loved him.


End file.
